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Summary (English)

Summary (English)

Following excavation, geomorphological and pedological studies in 2010, the 2011 campaign concentrated on cataloguing and analysing the finds. The vast majority were ceramics: from a total of 31 US, 5,545 pottery fragments (172.5 kg in weight) were studied. The main pottery fabric for the site was identified, that is impasto, with reference to an already existing impasto typology for this part of Sardinia (see http://www.facem.at/map/). Furthermore, 1,028 finds were documented in detail with photographs, descriptions, typologies and drawings.

The fabric analyses confirmed that most of the ceramic finds were locally-made, given that 4.006 fragments, that is 72% of the total were identified as local productions (fabric A). As regards the forms, the pottery was almost all of Punic type, mainly for domestic use such as cups, cooking pots and basins, and also forms relating to productive activities such as amphorae. Several fragments of ‘tannur’, small ovens for bread making were also found. The majority of the fine table wares also seemed to be of Sardinian production. The imported materials included amphorae from the Italian peninsula and North Africa, fine table wares (mainly black glaze) from Italy and Greece. A series of amphorae and cooking pots were sampled for the chemical analysis of residual fats (mass spectrometry-based metabolomics) with the aim of identifying their use.

Of interest among the non-ceramic finds were a number of coins, all Punic. They showed that the complex was occupied around the first half of the 4th century B.C. and probably abandoned at the end of the 2nd century B.C. The period in which the complex was restructured, representing the second construction phase, has yet to be determined. A small concentration of materials of Roman imperial date in a precise area of the site reflects its continuous use well after the abandonment of the Punic structure.
The geomorphological and pedological studies undertaken in the immediate surroundings of Pauli Stincus in 2010 were followed by a pedological survey in 2011. This survey covered a large area of the Terralbese, substantially confirming the reconstruction of a dynamic physical landscape affected by active fluvial and lacustrine processes, where fertile agricultural zones coexist with sand dunes.

The investigations have confirmed the preliminary interpretation of the site as a Punic farm and also shown close similarities with the nearby rural settlement of Truncu’e Molas, excavated and studied by the Progetto Terralba between 2007-09.

Summary Author:

Peter van Dommelen - Department of Archaeology, University of Glasgow&nbsp

Carlos Gómez Bellard&nbsp

Director

Director:Carlos Gómez-Bellard - Universitat de València

Director:Peter van Dommelen - Department of Archaeology, University of Glasgow